AP and Snopes Quits over their Partnership with Facebook

Two main fact-checking agencies, Associated Press and Snopes, have terminated their partnerships with the social network. They are trying to blow the efforts of the network to fight false news.   

Facebook paid the Snopes and AP to combat its misrepresentation crisis. These firms told that they are not checking articles on Facebook after the end of 2018. The AP confirmed it with BBC during an ongoing conversation. Facebook said it was dedicated to fighting fake news. The company is planning to expand its offers in the coming years.

Snopes joined hands with a third-party group of Facebook to check facts in 2016. Initially, they volunteer their services and then accept a $100,000 payment in the next year for their services. In a statement, the company said that they are rethinking to provide similar services.

A representative of Facebook told that fighting misinformation is a multi-pronged approach. They want to use different tactics to compete with the wrong information. Facebook values the effort of 3rd party fact-checkers. Currently, Facebook is working in partnership with 34 fact-checkers around the world to check content in 16 languages. They are planning to expand this program by adding new languages and partners.

The Perspective of AP and Snopes

A spokesperson of AP told that they consistently evaluate the best ways to deploy their fact-checking resources. They are negotiating different opportunities with Facebook to continue the fact-checking work.

Snopes claimed that they are trying to determine their efforts to help a platform beneficial for their online staff, publication, and community. The David Mikkelson, the founder of Snopes, said that the firm didn’t rule out it's working with social network, Facebook, in future. They are hoping for opening a dialogue with Facebook to discuss fruitful approaches. Forgoing an opportunity is not a decision that a journalistic enterprise takes lightly in the present publishing landscape.

The analyses and studies of this initiative repeated raise questions about the effects of this partnership. Facebook is not ready to release meaningful information about their efforts.